M A R A Art Studio + Gallery to Present BLACK + WHITE

M A R A Art Studio + Gallery will present "black+white," featuring monochromatic works by nine artists: Grace Howl, Jack Shapiro, Jana Millstone, Ralph Berger, Lisa DiFranza, Craig Palmer, Dan Wilkerson, Sam Wuerfel, and MARA Torres, May 1-31. The opening reception is Friday, May 6, 5:30-7 p.m. The gallery is at 1421 5th Street, Rosemary District, Sarasota. For more information, call (941) 914-8110 or visit MaraStudioGallery.com.

MARA Torres González, who opened M A R A Art Studio + Gallery in downtown Sarasota's Rosemary District in 2020, says that all of the works, which include 2D and 3D mixed-media pieces will be in black and white. She adds that one of the works by Grace Howl, "Homage to Lee Krasner," part of her "Urban Series" was recently used for a thesis presentation on Lee Krasner, who was a leading American abstract expressionist painter (and married to Jackson Pollack). Molly Nevis, a student at USF, Sarasota-Manatee, compared Howl's technique of using of gestural painting, characterized by energetic, expressive brushstrokes deliberately emphasizing the sweep of the painter's arm or movement of the hand, to Krasner's bold, graphic canvases that embraced a cut-up collage style and bright, gestural brushwork.

Jack Shapiro's sculptures celebrate the art of human form, inspired by dance. Shapiro will display two of his works in this exhibit and a portion of his sales will benefit Sarasota Contemporary Dance and Doctors Without Borders. The artist says that he likes to "to find compositions where the forms of the body play with the light and dark, so using white clay offers that opportunity." His work, "From Dance," was created from observing a dance improvisation that resulted in three sculptures, while "Arch Back" shows the whole body as a composition, taken from a more static pose with the soft clay manipulated to a strong arch.

M A R A Art Studio + Gallery features year-round rotating exhibits. Torres González says she's especially excited about an upcoming exhibit (opening October 28) she's coordinating with Halo Arts Project and a local antiquarian that will feature his artifacts collection that dates from 4000 BCE to the 19th century.

"We have the opportunity to exhibit works from almost the beginning of art history," she says. The exhibit will include works from the Neolithic and early Mesopotamia eras. Fifteen artists from all over the nation will be selected to create a modern piece inspired by an artifact.